1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates to a portable apparatus having two panels movable between open and closed positions.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portable apparatus such as a portable folder-type radiotelephone includes two case units coupled to each other such that they can be moved to folded and unfolded positions of the apparatus with respect to each other, and a hinge device for coupling the two case units to each other. One case unit is provided with a keypad with buttons, and the other case unit is provided with a liquid crystal display. When the portable apparatus is in use, the keypad and the liquid crystal display are moved to the unfolded position of the portable apparatus so that the keypad and display can be exposed to the outside. The hinge device allows the two case units to be coupled to each other and to be smoothly moved to the folded and unfolded positions of the portable apparatus.
A typical portable apparatus is constructed such that when two case units thereof are spaced apart by a predetermined angular distance from each other, they are then automatically moved to an unfolded position of the portable apparatus. An example of a hinge device used for such a portable apparatus includes a hinge device disclosed in Korean Patent No. 266516 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,387). The hinge device comprises a rotating member, a linearly moving member, a resilient member, and a housing. The housing contains the rotating member, the linearly moving member and the resilient member. The rotating member can rotate about a rotation axis within the housing, and a portion of the rotating member extending along the rotation axis protrudes outside of the housing to form a coupling portion (coupling shaft). The linearly moving member is in contact with the rotating member, and does not rotate within the housing but moves linearly along the rotation axis of the housing. The resilient member applies a force so that the linearly moving member and the rotating member can be brought into close contact with each other within the housing. At this time, contact surfaces of the linearly moving member and the rotating member are properly configured such that the rotating member easily rotates even without an external force in a certain range and is well maintained in a stationary state at a predetermined location.
One of two case units of a portable apparatus that are intended to be coupled to the hinge device constructed as above is fixed to the housing while the other is fixed to the coupling shaft of the rotating member. When the two case units are spaced apart beyond a predetermined angle from each other from a completely folded state of the portable apparatus, the two case units are automatically moved to an unfolded state of the portable apparatus through the operation of the hinge device. Therefore, in order to unfold the portable apparatus, a user should initially apply an external force to the two case units such that they can be moved with respect to each other. However, it is inconvenient for the user to apply the external force with only one hand. This is because the user should insert his/her finger between the two case units where there is no clearance and subsequently move them to be spaced apart from each other. Otherwise, the user should use his/her both hands. Accordingly, there is a need for a portable apparatus with two units, which has a structure for allowing a user to more conveniently cause the two units to be spaced apart from each other to unfold the apparatus.